Well basketball fans, it’s already late January and the season is moving right along. These past few weeks we’ve been treated to some first-rate conference matchups, some big-time games between ranked foes and vivid scenes from packed gymnasiums all over the country. Despite the freakish polar vortex, despite the ceaseless snow storms in the Midwest and Northeast, die-hard hoops fans still showed up and cheered on their teams. Hey, there’s no better place to warm up than a basketball arena packed with 10,000 fans. The Week in Review has been absent these past few weeks, but now it’s back in force with a special 1.5-week extended edition, a kind of conference-game vortex.

Glancing at the scores and the standings, perusing the Top 25, a few things caught my eye.

First of all, the best conferences in the country—the Big Ten, Big 12, the Pac—are doing what they always do this time of year: beating the crap out of each other. The college basketball season spreads itself out over five grueling months, November to March. To succeed in the hyper-competitive realm of Division I hoops, teams must not only win games but also stay healthy. If a decent team can survive the gauntlet of conference play intact—and, ideally, improve little by little throughout the year—it stands a good chance in the conference tourney and beyond. As we’ve seen time and again, anything can happen in March… you just have to get there, and your roster has to be in pretty good shape.

Here are a few thoughts on the Top 10 teams in the country, according to the AP:

1. Arizona

The Wildcats are 18-0 and fresh off a 23-point drubbing of Arizona State. The scariest thing about this team? It’s still getting better.

2. Syracuse

The boys from upstate New York are defensively adept, offensively potent and coached by one of the greatest of all time. Oh, and the Orange are still undefeated.

3. Michigan State

Always solid, always well-coached, the Spartans will vie for a conference title again this year. If Keith Appling plays his best ball, MSU could be Final Four-bound. Huge game against Michigan this weekend.

4. Villanova

The surprise team of the season thus far. Nobody thought the Wildcats would be this good, but here they are at No. 4 and 16-2. Jay Wright is consistently overlooked as one of the top coaches in the nation. He’s good, and so’s his team (kindly overlook that Creighton blowout described below, which was certainly an anomaly).

5. Wichita State

The Shockers are among the most complete teams in the country, and still undefeated at 19-0 (they took care of Illinois State on the road Wednesday). Inside, outside, the Shockers defend and pass and shoot the ball extremely well, and CleAnthony Early is a pro. It’s very possible, with Creighton now in the Big East, that Wichita State will run the table in the slightly down MVC.

6. Florida

Billy Donovan’s Gators are 15-2 and could be the best team in the SEC. Looks like a two-horse race in the Southeast between the Gators and Kentucky, but after a few questionable performances from the Wildcats, I’d say Florida is the conference favorite. Just to emphasize that statement, the Gators chomped a weak Georgia team by 22 points last Tuesday then traveled to Auburn and secured a 7-point W.

7. San Diego State

This team is much better than most people realize. This season the Aztecs have beaten Creighton (a win that keeps looking better and better), Marquette, Washington and Kansas, and their only loss was against Arizona back in November. Most recently they hammered San Jose State 75-50. Would you want to face the Aztecs in any round of the NCAA Tournament? No, you would not.

8. Kansas

Look out, people, the Jayhawks are figuring things out. Kansas has beaten four ranked teams in its last four games: Kansas State, Iowa State in Ames, Oklahoma State and Baylor. Granted, three of those games were in the friendly confines of the Phog, but Bill Self has this team turned around and headed toward a conference title. KU is playing more fluid offense, staunch defense and is using its athleticism to get easy points. Andrew Wiggins may not be an elite scorer, but he’s a fine all-around ballplayer (his defense has been especially good of late) who has seemingly bought into Self’s selfless system.

9. Wisconsin

The Badgers have returned to Earth with a few recent Big Ten losses. They got knocked around a little bit, but they’re still littered with sharpshooters and fun to watch. If Wisco is hitting shots and grabbing the lion’s share of the rebounds, the Badgers can beat anyone in the conference. Don’t write them off just yet.

10. Iowa

It gives me great joy to see my beloved Hawkeyes in the Top 10. Iowa had won three conference games in a row before dropping a tough road game at Michigan on Wednesday night (see below). Deep, skilled and gritty in the post, the Hawks are hunting for a conference title this season, and they just might get it.

So that’s how the Top 10 shakes out, in my view. Now let’s get rolling on this week’s recaps.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

Colorado 57, No. 1 Arizona 69

It seems every time Arizona steps on the floor the Wildcats are markedly better than their opponent, and Thursday night was no exception. ‘Zona was up big at the half, 39-24, but the Buffs are a resilient Pac-12 foe and they kept chipping away in the second frame, taking advantage of some poor perimeter shooting from the Wildcats to keep the game fairly close. At home, though, Arizona is all but unbeatable, and without leading scorer Spencer Dinwiddie (injured and out for the season) the Buffaloes didn’t have the firepower to really challenge the ‘Cats.

Nick Johnson scored 18 for Arizona, Brandon Ashley had 15 and freshman forward Aaron Gordon chipped in 12. Xavier Johnson scored a game-high 21 to lead Colorado.
Arizona didn’t have a great second half, and it was only three-15 from behind the arc. No matter. Stingy defense, strong play from the talented Johnson and a big home court advantage allowed the Wildcats to stay undefeated against a dangerous, if wounded, Buffaloes squad.

No. 6 Florida 68, Alabama 62

Alabama isn’t know for it’s home court advantage, but the Crimson Tide faithful were fired up Thursday for a SEC showdown with surging Florida in Tuscaloosa. Trevor Releford, a great little guard who doesn’t get much national recognition outside of SEC country, ran the show for Alabama and collected 14 points and 4 assists. But the Tide, without second-leading scorer Retin Obasohan (out with a strained hip flexor), couldn’t hold back the Gators and their timely outside shooting.

Florida’s Michael Frazier III was on fire in this one, racking up 18 points and hitting 5 three-pointers. At one point in the second half, with Alabama hanging around, Frazier hit two threes in a row to give the Gators a comfortable margin. The Crimson Tide pulled within five with just over a minute remaining, but Florida knocked down its free throws and secured its fifth SEC win.

The Gators are 16-2 and flexing some muscle in the SEC.

No. 9 Wisconsin 68, Minnesota 81

Wednesday was a big night for college basketball, highlighted by this Big Ten matchup at The Barn in Minneapolis. Richard Pitino’s Gophers earned a big home win against a Wisconsin team that has revealed a few weaknesses in recent days.

Minnesota led from start to finish, behind 18 points apiece from DeAndre Mathieu and Mo Walker. The Gophers like to run-and-gun, and Mathieu can really move, slithering into tight spaces to get off high-percentage shots. And Walker, who lost 60 pounds last summer according to the AP, simply overpowered any Badger assigned to check him.

“We’ve got very good chemistry. When things are clicking, it’s tough to overcome,” Pitino told the AP. “I think these guys truly believe that the whole is greater than the parts.”

Sharp-shooting Sam Dekker registered 20 points and 6 rebounds for the Badgers, who only shot 5-20 from three-point range—a departure from their normally high long-range percentage. Part of the problem was Frank Kaminsky, the best three-point shooter in the conference, was saddled with early foul trouble and couldn’t play his customary minutes.

Minnesota had no trouble scoring the basketball in its home barn—the Gophers shot nearly 59 percent from the field.

Wisconsin, which started the year 16-0, has lost its last three games.

No. 10 Iowa 67, No. 21 Michigan 75

Another big Wednesday night tilt in the Big Ten. Nik Stauskas scored 26 points to lead the surging Wolverines past a talented Hawkeyes team in Ann Arbor. It was Michigan’s eighth-straight victory.
With Stauskas raining shots, Glenn Robinson III using his explosive athleticism around the rim, and little Spike Albrecht (remember ole Spike, from last year’s title game?) running roughshod down the court, Iowa had all it could handle from the Wolverines, especially on their home floor. Robinson finished with 14 points, while the quick-handed Albrecht racked up 7 points, 7 dimes and 4 steals.

Sixty-seven points is a low total for this year’s Iowa Hawkeyes, who would prefer to score in the high 70s or 80s. Iowa didn’t shoot all that badly (47.2 percent from the field) but only hit 2-10 from three-point territory, a big part of their offensive attack. Michigan fired a whopping 27 three-balls and hit 8 of them; Stauskas was personally 4-9 from behind the arc. Statistically it was a very even game.

Aaron White and Melsahn Basabe scored 17 points apiece for Iowa.

No. 13 UMass 55, Richmond 58

A big upset in the A10 on Wednesday as the Spiders took down the talented Minutemen. Richmond guard Kendall Anthony, all of 5-8, knocked down his first four three-point shots and just kept cruising, finishing his night with 21 points on 8-14 shooting from the field. Umass’s own diminutive and dynamic guard, Chaz Williams, was bottled up for much of the evening and only scored 8 points (2-11 shooting), a testament to the Spiders defense.

Still, it was close in the end. Late in the second half with Richmond leading, Sampson Carter and Cady Lalanne scored for UMass to make the score 55-53. Then Cedrick Lindsay, normally Richmond’s top scorer, made three critical free throws in the final minute to steal the game for the Spiders.

No. 22 Kansas State 64, Texas 67

Longhorns forward Jonathan Holmes knocked down a corner three-pointer at the buzzer to give Texas a three-point victory over Big 12 rival Kansas State on Tuesday.
With three seconds left, following a timeout to set up the play, Texas’s Isaiah Taylor found Holmes in the corner. Covered by two defenders, he rose and fired. Swish.

“I just caught it and shot it,” Holmes told the Associated Press.

This was a tight ballgame for all 40 minutes. Texas center Cameron Ridley battled his counterpart Thomas Gipson for much of the night, both men working hard in the post and scoring plenty of points—Ridley with 18, Gipson with 24.

Ultimately Holmes’s heroics won the game for Texas, but it easily could have gone K-State’s way.

The Longhorns are now sitting at 15-4 (4-2) and could be a sleeper for that elusive Big 12 title.

Creighton 96(!), No. 4 Villanova 68

We’ve known for a while now that Creighton shoots the long ball exceptionally well, but rarely has there ever been a three-point fusillade like the one the Jays fired on Monday. Creighton went 21-35 from behind the arc, an eye-popping 60 percent. The Jays shot better from three-point land than from the field as a whole (56.9 percent).

At one point in the first half, Creighton was up by 28 points. Ethan Wragge went bananas, hitting 9 three-pointers and finishing with 27 points. It was simply nutty.

Yea, anytime you hit 9 three-pointers in one game, you get Player of the Week Honors. Wragge scored 27 points in the Creighton absurdity described above. Eight of those threes, by the way, came in the first half. Teammate Doug McDermott told reporters that he wasn’t surprised by Wragge’s outburst; the kid often shoots better than that in practice.

Wragge’s 9 shots tied a record set by Kyle Korver back in 2003. Nice work, Mr. Wragge.

GAMES I’LL BE WATCHING

No. 21 Michigan vs No. 3 Michigan State, Saturday, 7:00 EST

A great in-state matchup between two conference rivals.

No. 4 Villanova vs Marquette, Saturday, 2:00 EST

Can the Wildcats rebound after a tough loss with a win over Marquette?

Texas vs No. 24 Baylor, Saturday, 1:30 EST

Coming off a nice win over Kansas State, Texas travels to Baylor for a Big 12 shootout.

Xavier vs Providence, Saturday, 12:00 EST

Two unranked teams that you might find in the Top 25 by season’s end.

Utah vs No. 1 Arizona, Sunday 8:00 EST

Utah is good, but the Wildcats look impregnable. Can the Utes make it a game?

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW (January 12-18)

Since we couldn’t get a recap in last week, I decided to include these matchups today. Yes, it’s a little dated, but these games were noteworthy and fun, so I cherry-picked a few for your reading pleasure.

No. 3 Wisconsin 72, Indiana 75

The Hoosier faithful stormed the floor last Tuesday night as unranked Indiana knocked off then-No. 3, undefeated Wisconsin in Bloomington, a season-saving win for Tom Crean’s crew. Dynamic Indiana guard Yogi Ferrell caught fire in the second half, scoring on layups, three-pointers and pretty midrange jumpers, sometimes falling away from the basket, sometimes slipping into the lane, planting a foot and launching a smooth pull-up. He finished with 25 points on the night, 19 of which came in the second frame.

Wisconsin had a chance to tie the game late when Ben Brust launched a three-pointer from the corner that missed badly. Brust, perhaps thinking he had less time than the 5 seconds remaining on the clock, forced the shot and Indiana secured the rebound. Game, Hoosiers.

“To the team, it means a great deal,” Crean told the AP. “To me, the team needs this [win]. It’s amazing what happens when some real confidence starts to come.

In addition to Ferrell’s performance, the Hoosiers got some help from the always-energized Will Sheehey (13 points, 6 boards) and freshman guard Stanford Robinson (an unexpected 13 points). Indiana shot 51.6 percent from the field and our-rebounded the Badgers 33-28 in an all-around well played game.
Wisconsin wasn’t bad, either. Led by Traevon Jackson and his 21 points, Wisconsin shot 53 percent from the field (and about 30 percent from three-point land).

The Badgers are no longer undefeated, but they’re still among the nation’s elite teams. The Big Ten, as always, will be up for grabs this year.

No. 13 Kentucky 85, Arkansas 87

A wild one down in Fayetteville. With about 2 seconds left on the clock, Andrew Harrison, wide open on the wing, knocked down a three-pointer to tie the score at 74 and send the game to overtime.

Then, in the waning moments of the extra period, Kentucky scrambled to corral a loose rebound and found James Young at the top of the key, who calmly stroked a three-pointer and tied the game 85-all. Arkansas guard Rashad Madden dribbled up-court, stopped and fired a wing three-pointer that missed a little long and a little left, bouncing high off the rim. Charging in from the opposite side of the court, no one blocking him out, Michael Qualls leapt for the ball and slammed it home with two hands just as the buzzer sounded. Crazy play, crazy conference win for the Razorbacks.

“Crashing the boards in that type of situation is the best time to crash the boards,” Qualls told the AP. “I just saw an opportunity and took it.”

Qualls and Madden scored 18 points apiece for the Razorbacks. Qualls added 5 rebounds to his stat line, including 3 offensive boards. On the Kentucky side, swingman James Young played an excellent 23-point, 6-rebound game, while freshman man-child Julius Randle added 20 points of his own.

Kentucky and its talented roster are now 12-4 on the season; Arkansas, surprisingly, has the exact same record.

Butler 60, No. 20 Creighton 88

Yea, Creighton is pretty tough at home. On paper this looked like a great game—the Butler Bulldogs, a decent squad this season with a legacy of defensive tenacity and tough-mindedness, versus Creighton and the Fightin’ McDermotts. Sadly it was over by halftime Tuesday, and the Jays coasted to a 28-point victory over a brand new Big East rival.

Star forward Doug McDermott scored 28 points to lead all scorers. Creighton is a favorite for the Big East title; Butler, however, is in the midst of a five-game losing streak and trending down.

St. John’s 75, DePaul 77

My late grandfather was a DePaul alumnus, so naturally we root for the Demons here. Any Big East victory for DePaul is cause for celebration, and this was a good win over a Johnnies squad that—frankly—is underachieving this season. Billy Garrett Jr. led the Demons with 21 points.

After an impressive 14-0 start, ISU has dropped its last two conference games. The Cyclones were outmuscled on the glass in this one, 53-36; ISU doesn’t have much size up front and it showed. It also shot the three-pointer much less efficiently than it normally does (just 4-25 from behind the arc). Adding to Iowa State’s troubles, top scorer DeAndre Kane is still battling an ankle injury he suffered on Saturday against Oklahoma.

As for the Jayhawks, well, just when we were all set to write them off, Bill Self has this team motivated and playing its best ball of the season.

No. 20 Iowa 84, No. 3 Ohio State 74

At last, my beloved Hawkeyes beat a quality Big Ten team on the road! Roy Devin Marble, one of the best all-around ballplayers in the conference, scored 22 points for Iowa. Forward Aaron White chipped in 19 and Melsahn Besabe racked up 11 points and 10 rebounds for a Hawkeyes team that finally closed the deal on a marquee win. According to the AP, it was Iowa’s first win over a Top 5 team since 2001, and it came one week after Iowa had Wisconsin on the ropes in Madison but couldn’t ice the game.

Ohio State logged an uncharacteristic 17 turnovers on Sunday, including several key miscues in the second half. The Buckeyes have now lost two conference games in a row—last week’s loss at Michigan State being the first—and have since dropped out of the Top Ten.

PLAYER OF (LAST) WEEK: Tre Demps, Northwestern

Northwestern hasn’t had a great year so far, but the Wildcats scored an impressive Big Ten victory over a ranked Illinois squad last Sunday in Evanston, 49-43. Tre Demps scored 11 points for the Wildcats, which seems fairly average at first glance—until you factor in when he scored most of those points. He knocked down three three-pointers in three minutes (almost poetic, isn’t it?) late in the second half, building up a lead the Wildcats wouldn’t relinquish. Well done, Mr. Demps, a fine showing. You are the Week in Review Player of the Week.

This weekend, the Northwestern Wildcats will debut their brand new jerseys designed by the players themselves. These custom Under Armour threads tell the team’s story with mottos and hand-drawn images featured on the unis. Check them out in the photos above.

The Windy City produces some of the best basketball talent in the country, but the top recruits have recently chosen to take their skills out of state. But Northwestern head coach Chris Collins believes his program has a chance to buck the trend.

During the spring signing period, Collins hit the prospect jackpot with the commitment of the 6-7, 200-pound Victor Law of St. Rita (IL) High. A skilled wing with great size, Law is Northewestern’s only top-100 recruit in the past decade.

“Of course, I think I’m going to bring in some people, just seeing me and my optimism and my enthusiasm,” Law said. “Just like Coach Collins did toward me. I’m going to promote the message of Northwestern to other kids and hopefully them seeing me commit there, it will get their bravery up and they’ll come, too.

Signing with a school that has never been to the NCAA Tournament was a bold move by Law. But he believes this decision will definitely pay off in the end. And the confidence he possesses in his own game surely puts his mind at ease.

“I feel as though Northwestern is a place where the roof is just going to explode when we win,” Law said. “I think the town and the whole culture of Northwestern is just waiting for a winner, and I think being the first to commit, I’m going to be able to provide that.”

Collins, son of former 76ers head coach Doug Collins and former assistant to Mike Krzyzewski, is keen on signing more top talent in the area.

“I may be biased, but I’ve always felt that the players who come out of Chicago. It’s the most fertile ground for high school players in the country,” Collins said. “Not only for the high school players that we have here in Chicago, but also you have great coaches, you have great programs and kids are very competitive, and basketball means a lot to them.

“It’s a great city for basketball and to have a school right in Chicago, we want to be able to recruit our home area. It’s so very important. Young men want to stay home, want to play in front of their families and friends and get a chance to get a great education at a place like Northwestern.”

Law recognized the advantage of staying close to home early after witnessing his big sister, Simone Law, sign her letter of intent for a full basketball scholarship to Loyola, just north of downtown Chicago. And being a quick drive away from mom’s famous steak dinners played well in Northwestern’s favor as well.

“She’s a big role model in my life, so I think being only 15 minutes away from her is really something important,” said Law of his sister. “I can always go back to her and work out with her, or get her advice or something, because when you’re away, the pressures or struggles of college that you face, you’re not going to be able to get the same advice or the same home-cooked meal.”

One of the first orders of business Collins had on his first day as a head coach was to watch Law play in an ordinary open gym during the spring recruiting period. Collins’ eagerness to recruit Law made a huge impression on the rising senior.

“I thought he really showed a great interest, and I just loved his enthusiasm and his optimism about the job and what he was going to do with the program. I thought that other schools had great programs and they were doing great things, but being that first one, the person to start the legacy and start the dynasty was just something that was really important to me,” Law believed.

New assistant coach Pat Baldwin is a former Wildcat and ’93-94 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. He returns to Northwestern after serving as an assistant at Missouri State for two seasons. Baldwin will be joined by Brian James, who spent the last three seasons as an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers. Rounding out his staff is assistant coach Armon Gates, who spent the previous two seasons at the neighboring Loyola. During his playing days at Kent State, he finished second in school history in three-point field goals made. ‘Not a bad bunch of guys’ according to Collins.

“Those guys bring a lot of energy. They bring a lot of excitement. They’re hungry. They’re Chicago guys. They’re well respected in this area. They’ve recruited this area very well. But they’re also good basketball coaches,” Collins said. “When I was looking around [to hire] a staff, I wanted a little bit of everything. I didn’t just want guys who just knew how to recruit or just know how to coach, I wanted guys who had the whole package.”

Law’s plans for the next month are simple: to win the state title. And as he looks to his future at Northwestern, he wishes to only bring that same competitive spirit.

“For the duration of the summer, I really just want to play, get myself better for the school year because the ultimate goal is to win the state [championship] and to put St. Rita on the map. St. Rita is almost a similar situation to Northwestern,” Law said. “The school is great academically, but basketball wasn’t really known. It was known as a football school and when coach [Gary] DeCesare came, we really turned the culture around and it’s now a basketball power, so I think I can really do the same thing at Northwestern.”

And as Collins aims for successful tenure at Northwestern, he desires to keep his roots embedded with a Chicago soul saying, “It’s my hometown. I love this area, I love Chicago and I’m hoping to be here for a long, long time.”

Law and Collins are leading the charge into an undetermined future. But with so much talent in Chicago, their chances of finally breaking the Wildcats’ NCAA drought are bigger than ever before.

Under Armour is taking innovation to new levels—not only with the forward-thinking technology of shoes like the Charge BB, but also with colorways. Like tonight, when UA schools Maryland and Northwestern face off as part of the Big Ten-ACC Challenge in Evanston. When they take the court, both squads will be rocking brand new, multi-colored kicks that showcase both Wilcat purple and Terrapin red, in the form of the UA Spine Bionic, the UA Charge BB and the UA Micro G Torch.

It marks the first matchup between NU and UMD since 1958 (peep the footage here). So yeah, people—including Under Armour—are excited. The game tips off at 9:15 p.m. on ESPN2.

Quietly a couple of college basketball’s remaining unbeaten teams squared off Sunday afternoon in Evanston, Ill., when Baylor visited Northwestern. However, the game was far more one-sided than it looked on paper as the Bears dismantled the Wildcats, 69-41.

Everything came easy for Baylor on both ends of the floor in the victory. The Bears shot 60.4 percent from the floor and held Northwestern to just 24.1 percent shooting. They led by 18 points at halftime and saw that lead rise to 61-29 with just under six minutes to go.

The win was a balanced effort as no Bear scored more than 16 points. While standouts Perry Jones III and Quincy Miller combined for just 15 points, it was junior college transfer Pierre Jackson pacing the team with 16. Jackson, who has scored in double-figures off the bench in his last four games, made seven of his eight shots on Sunday.

Jackson’s addition is one of the reasons this Baylor team is living up to the hype.

From The Kansas City Star:

“We have a lot more depth this year we have a lot a guys than can do special things,” Acy said. “We take it personally in practice guarding each other. Last year, (defense) is what really hurt us.”

Baylor’s 7-0 start has been impressive. The Bears and Missouri are the only top-25 teams to win every game by at least 10 points. Those two teams could be the ones that unseat Kansas from the top of the Big 12 for the first time since 2004.

That’s what you thought when you met Ricky Byrdsong. He filled the room with his smile. With his confidence. With his personality. Talk to him long enough and you might find yourself ready to follow him on a crusade against hate. Or hunger. Or just about anything. Ricky Byrdsong could do that. Could motivate people to follow him. Before they knew it, they were right next to him. Involved. That was his power, the power to lead.

Ask Jamal Meeks about that. He spent three years as an assistant to Byrdsong at Northwestern, going from glorified gofer to a valued bench assistant. “I had all the jobs everybody else didn’t have time for,” Meeks says, laughing. “I got the cars washed, filled them with gas and picked up the recruits from the airport. All the glamour stuff.” In return, Meeks learned about basketball and how to serve others. He saw that when Byrdsong showed up in Meeks’ office with three boxes of sharp Cole Haan dress shoes for the 24-year-old coach. “I’m making $1,000 a month, and he’s treating me like one of his kids,” Meeks says. “If I needed a new suit for the sidelines, he helped out.” And on that bus ride back from a loss (Northwestern had a lot of them) when Byrd made Meeks look out the window and consider “how many people in this city are hungry right now.” That really made an impression. “I’m 24 years old, and I’m trying to figure out how to afford a new car, and he’s talking about people who can’t eat,” Meeks says. “He says, ‘We’ve got to figure out how to feed them.’”

Then there was the time when Byrdsong told Meeks, “Come on, we’re taking a drive.” They jumped into the head coach’s maroon New Yorker and started driving into Chicago. Way into Chicago. To Cabrini Green, the most notorious projects in the city. A place where people who drive shiny New Yorkers don’t go, unless they’re moving at top speed. Not Byrdsong. He stopped. He parked. “The locals are trying to figure out who we are,” Meeks says. “They think we’re detectives.” Byrdsong took Meeks into one of the apartment buildings. It reeked of urine and despair. “Think about trying to raise kids in this,” Byrdsong told him. “We’ve got to do something about that.” Byrdsong wasn’t eyeing a recruit or trying to make contact with a street agent. He just wanted to see the place. And he wanted Meeks to know that even at $1,000 a month, he had it pretty good. “To feel that, wow!” Meeks says, a decade later.

All the Byrdsong stories are about 10 years later, because he has been gone almost that long. Not just gone from coaching; then-Northwestern AD Rick Taylor took care of that with seven games left in the ’96-97 season. Nope, Byrdsong is Gone, as in dead. Passed. Murdered.

In the summer of ’99, it took a hateful man and his gun to stop Byrdsong, because nothing else was going to. So Northwestern had fired him and taken him away from the profession to which he’d given his life? That was a mere speed bump. Byrdsong ended up at Aon, the world’s second largest insurance company, running community relations programs and spreading his gospel to an even wider audience. The ultimate preacher had been given a bigger pulpit. He was going to write books. Influence people. There was no stopping him.

“I guess that is what he should have been doing all along,” Evan Eschmeyer says. “He was a better preacher than a basketball coach. He could provide better service to his country. If he had not been shot, he would have been a powerful force in people’s lives.”

Eschmeyer spent four years with Byrdsong at Northwestern. He was hurt for two and played for two. Eschmeyer then had a four-year NBA run with the Nets and Mavs and is now pursuing joint law and MBA degrees at his alma mater and has recently become a father. He acknowledges Byrdsong’s limitations as a basketball coach—“He made a lot of mistakes”—but marvels at his ability to overcome any obstacles he encountered, whether they were self-inflicted or beyond his control. That was one of his gifts to his players, the unflinching optimism that things would be all right. No matter how tough it got, he kept moving forward, kept overcoming. “If he made a mistake, he could bounce back as well as anybody,” Eschmeyer says. Now 32, Eschmeyer appreciates Byrdsong more and more. “I find myself, as I move from a young adult to a full adult, thinking every few months back to something [Byrdsong] said in the locker room after a game, and it will make sense,” he adds. “I’ll realize that he was instilling life lessons that don’t always go with motivating a basketball team. It’s a shame he didn’t get a chance to fulfill that mission.”

—

Its name was the World Church of the Creator, though it had about as much to do with a church as a school of fish has to do with an education. Its founder, Ben Klassen, was a horrible man whose worldview had been shaped by some of history’s greatest hate-mongers, like Hitler and Mussolini. He saw enemies all around him and slowly built a following of twisted, like-minded types who believed in “racial purity” and the same propaganda that incited the Nazis, specifically that Jews were running the world and that white people had to fight back. It had attracted nearly 10,000 followers throughout America and the world. Matt Hale, “Pontifex Maximus” of the church, had been on several TV programs, spouting his venom. One follower, Benjamin Smith, believed in the need for a “racial holy war,” and when Hale was denied a law license in Illinois, thanks in large part to his religious creed, Smith was irate. It was time for him to abandon the church’s non-violent stance.

On July 2, ’99, Smith was cruising the streets in a predominently-Jewish neighborhood near Byrdsong’s home, hoping to get some retribution for what he felt was a vendetta by the “Jewish-Operated Government” against Hale and his fellow church members. In a 15-minute span, he shot six Jews and frightened countless others with his gunplay. Looking for more victims, he headed toward Skokie, where he saw Byrdsong and two of his children, Ricky, Jr., and Kelley. Byrdsong was jogging, and the two kids were on their bikes. Smith had gone out looking for Jewish victims. His twisted mind was just as happy to fire on African-Americans. Smith slowed down, cruised toward the Byrdsong family at a deliberate pace and opened fire. Two days later, being chased while he looked for more victims, Smith took his own life. Sadly, his irreparable damage had been done.

“I was coaching at Bowling Green at the time, and I was asleep on my couch,” says Meeks. “I woke up and saw Byrd’s face on SportsCenter. I thought he had gotten another coaching job. Then I heard the news, and my heart dropped.”

Brad Hurlbut, who had been the sports information director at Northwestern while Byrdsong was the coach there, was up early on July 3, preparing to drive to a friend’s wedding. He had the news on and heard, “Next up, a former Northwestern coach is shot dead.” He waited for the commercial to end and confronted the news. As SID, it was his job to tell people what had happened. “It was gut-wrenching,” he said. The hardest job was telling Taylor, the same man who had fired Byrdsong. Taylor hadn’t hired the coach, and he didn’t always agree with Byrdsong’s unorthodox methods. When Taylor announced Byrdsong’s dismissal with eight games left in a ’96-97 season that would end at 7-22, the Northwestern players were irate and held a press conference making their sentiments known. It didn’t change Taylor’s mind.

Taylor may not have regretted firing Byrdsong for the good of the program, but it hardly lessened his sadness about Byrdsong’s tragic death. As Hurlbut approached him on the golf course on July 3, 1999, the hardened AD knew trouble was brewing. “I’m coming down the second fairway toward him, and he knew something was wrong,” Hurlbut says. “When I told him, he burst into tears. And this wasn’t a guy who cried. When we held the press conference at the university the next week, many of the people there couldn’t make it through without crying. Ricky was just a wonderful man.”

—

Byrd had taken a long route to Northwestern. He was an all-conference performer at Pratt Community College in Kansas, a long way from the Georgia home where he grew up. Byrdsong moved on to Iowa State, where he was named co-captain. But he wasn’t going to play professionally. Nope, he was going to coach, and his first stop on the bench was at his alma mater. From there, it was on to Western Michigan, Eastern Illinois and Arizona. At each stop, Byrdsong’s reputation as a strong recruiter and inspirational force for the players grew. In ’88, Byrdsong’s assistant career ended when Detroit Mercy named him head coach. By the time he left, after the ’92-93 season, he had lifted the Titans to a 15-12 record. That performance attracted Northwestern, which made him the program’s first black head coach. Byrdsong had a 34-78 record with the Wildcats, who were often outmanned in the highly competitive Big Ten thanks to their stringent admissions requirements. They were also hurt by injuries, defections and some plain bad luck, such as when star Geno Carlisle was convicted of assaulting a woman and transferred to California.

Byrdsong, who once took his team to Tijuana when they were in Cali to play a game at San Diego State, had his signature moment during a game at Minnesota in his first season. Trying to motivate his team and angry with the officials, he left the Northwestern bench during a February game at Minnesota and wandered into the stands. As the Minneapolis Star-Tribune put it, “Northwestern coach Ricky Byrdsong put on one of the most unusual displays ever by a visiting coach at Williams Arena. Byrdsong turned over coaching duties to assistant Paul Swanson and spent much of the second half walking the aisle behind Northwestern’s bench, exchanging pleasantries with Minnesota fans.”

Many around the country felt Byrdsong had lost it. His subsequent 12-day leave of absence convinced them the coach was crazy. But Byrdsong returned and led the team to a strong finish and a 15-14 record, the Wildcats’ first winning season in 11 years. The performance earned the school an NIT berth, just the second post-season invitation tendered to Northwestern in its history. But the good times didn’t last. Northwestern was 7-20 in ’95-96 and 7-22 the following year. The dismissal hardly tempered Byrdsong—at the first game after his firing was announced he came into the postgame press conference holding a sign that said “Will Work for Food.”

Fresh off two close conference losses, including one in OT to Evan Turner and Ohio St, No. 6 Purdue entered Saturday’s Big Ten matchup against Northwestern in need of a win. The Wildcats were also in search of a marquee win, one that’s seemed to evade them the past couple years. However, only Northwestern would step up to the challenge, as they took out the Boilermakers 72-64.

FIRST HALF

Despite a packed house, and seas of purple underneath each basket, the hometown Wildcats struggled out of the gate. With Northwestern missing their first five field goals, Purdue jumped out to an early lead. John Shurna broke the Wildcats drought, scoring their first basket nearly six minutes into the game. Purdue didn’t get off to a great offensive start either, but their defense got the job done. Their pressure forced Northwestern into three early turnovers, and several possessions in which the shot clock almost expired.

The Boilermakers did a good job of taking Northwestern out of their Princeton offense, but 10 straight points from NU point guard Michael Thompson gave the Wildcats their first lead, and put them in the driver’s seat for the rest of the evening. His energy lit a much-needed fire under the Wildcats, who had been a step slow thus far.

“It seems like has ownership,” said Purdue Head Coach Matt Painter. “I don’t know how to really explain that. I just kinda know it when I see it. It’s his team…picking his spots. He had a good stretch early, offensively of scoring the basketball.”

Thompson even got it done despite mysteriously coming under the weather, to the point of throwing up at halftime.

“I don’t have the flu or anything like that,” said Thompson. “It just came to a point in the game where I felt sick.”

“I feel very good [now],” he said after the game.

While Thompson was able to get his team going, no one stepped up and did the same for Purdue. Unable to score, shooting just 31 percent in the half, they couldn’t rebound either. The Wildcats killed Purdue on the boards all night, beginning with out-rebounding them 24-12 in the first half. Turnovers were the only thing that kept the Boilermakers in the game. They forced the WIldcats into nine turnovers, then translated that into 11 points. All while taking care of the ball themselves, having just one turnover of their own.

“Their pressure hurt us in the first half,” said Northwestern Head Coach Bill Carmody. “We had nine turnovers…they put the heat on us pretty good, but they weren’t getting second shots.”

After being hit with a 12-0 run, E’Twuan Moore got things going for the Boilermakers, en route to 10 points in the half. Notice the big names were quiet. Jajuan Johnson played just 11 minutes due to early foul trouble, while Shurna shot just 2-7 for four points. Robbie Hummell was scoreless before briefly leaving with an eye injury, but rang off five quick points after returning.

Northwester 26, Purdue 25. Halftime.

SECOND HALF

The Wildcats set the tone immediately, scoring four points on two quick layups, forcing Painter to call time out less than two minutes into the half. This time it was Purdue’s turn go ice from the field, as they opened up 0-5 from the field. After close to four minutes, Hummell, who scored Purdue’s first five points, finally broke their cold stretch.

Johnson’s woes continued, as he picked up foul number four at the 13:07 mark, and Northwestern took full advantage of his absence. Wildcat center, Luka Mirkovic, went on to score 12 of his 16 points in the second half, and Purdue continued to get dominated on the glass. They’d be out-rebounded 42-23 for the entire game.

“The story of the game Northwestern’s ability to chase long rebounds down, and just dominate us on the glass,” said Painter.

The two teams jockeyed back and forth for much of the earlier part of the half, but a Drew Crawford three-pointer that came as the shot clock expired, broke the game open for the Wildcats. It was the first of two HUGE three’s by Crawford.

“It was probably the play of the game,” said Painter.

The bucket sent the crowd into a frenzy, as Welsh-Ryan Arena got the loudest its been all season. Although the Boilermakers clawed to keep themselves in the game, the Wildcats never really looked back. When things did get close it was another Crawford three that sealed the deal. He then followed that up with a three-point play the old-fashioned way on the very next play.

“I just waited for my time in the game,” said the freshman. “The first half it was everybody else knocking shot down, in the second half I hit a couple, but it’s all about how we work together as a team.”

Northwestern 72, Purdue 64. Final Score.

Crawford finished with 15 points, while Thompson led the way with 20, and Mirkovic added 16 points and 10 rebounds.E’Twuan led Purdue with 24, and Hummell had 20. No one else was in double figures for the Boilermakers, who shot just 36 percent.

The Northwestern crowd stormed the court after the victory.

“The fan support tonight was unbelievable. It was great to have everybody there. Storming in the court, that was pretty cool. I might have got popped in the face one time, but it was pretty cool” Crawford said after the game.